1886 PRACTICAL FRUIT GROWER

GUIDE TO FRUIT BUSINESS BY “MASS AGGIE” PROFESSOR

THE PRACTICAL FRUIT GROWER. American Agriculture. By Prof. S. T. Maynard, Professor of Botany and Horticulture at the Massachusetts Agricultural College. Profusely Illustrated. Springfield, Mass: The Phelps Publishing Company, 1886. First edition [copyright 1885, with 1886 date on title and front cover]. Original pictorial wrappers (7 ⅛ by 4 ½ inches). pp. 108, [4 (index)], profusely illustrated in black-and-white. A guide to growing, marketing, and selling all manner of fruits, including apples, cherries, peaches, currants, grapes, pears, quince, gooseberry, etc. Author’s preface (dated 1885) states: “In this age of book-making, a new book should not be urged upon the public unless to supply a real need. My excuse for presenting at this time this little volume, is the want, on the part of beginners in the business of fruit culture, and of the common farmer who has not the time nor inclination to study extensive works upon the subject, of a book that shall be sold at a small price yet cover the entire-field of fruit cultivation, in all its details, in a plain and practical manner. The limits of the present work, however, will not allow of an extended discussion as to the merits of the many methods of growth and cultivation, and I have aimed to give only such as are largely practiced by the most successful fruit growers.” Good condition; fragile wrappers soiled, few creases and short tears. Quite rare; this 1886 edition is unrecorded by Worldcat, which notes the 1894 edition as the earliest held institutionally. This practical guide to the fruit business became popular, and was widely reprinted for nearly 3 decades. Surprisingly rare in this first edition.

Keywords: agriculture, business, fruit growing, apples, pears, peaches, grapes, phylloxera, strawberries, berries, etc.